General

Socrates believed self-knowledge was essential. Today, we wonder if there’s even a self to know

https://youtu.be/zccoaL0stbM

There was a day when I thought I knew myself. It was terrifying and traumatic, and I suspect I am still recovering from the experience.

The reason is quite simple.

We are as human beings very complex creatures.

No two minds think the same.

In understanding one’s self, you have to acknowledge the uniqueness of us all. We might all look a bit the same but inside our minds there in lies the difference.

Our sense of self, comes from an acceptance of the context in which we have lived and in which we live today. These can be very different. Our childhood’s experiences often are the influence of living with our parents in whatever world they chose to live in. We had no say; we learned from them, we participated in their experiences.

in
the
world of
make believe
self remains hidden
selfies create self delusion

In response toReena’s Exploration Challenge #Week 33

That Friday feeling is here and it is time to post my 20th poem of the challenge. This morning is all about rebellion and the prompt is to write a poem about this theme or to rebel against the way you usually write by choosing a different approach. I have written about a ventriloquist’s doll who breaks free! Happy Friday!

Viola’s Rebellion

Her face is white as porcelain

Her lips are thin and red

And as the concertina plays

He tilts her fragile head

The voice that he embodies

Has a churlish, silly sound

He helps her do a courtesy

And then makes her spin around

Her floral dress, conservative

Her frilly blouse too tight

Those fallen locks have lost their shine

But who is she to fight?

She’s at the mercy of his hands

She doesn’t have control

The only life she’s ever known

Is as a passive doll

It was never easy. The triggers are there. The door to the past is never completely closed as much as we’d like it to be.

The public ridicule is real; I expect it any time I go out. I’m sure its deserving.

That’s the thing of course; I never thought at the time that all these years later the fear would still be there, so I happily stay in my protected world.

It’s easy to avoid people, you go out only when you want to, like the early morning, you never browse in the shops, you know what you want, you get it and go home.

Conversation becomes difficult, you become aware of being the boring person in the room so chat grows more and more strained and you understand when people move away and look for someone more stimulating.

My second attempt at a relationship was a disaster. It…

did
you
ever
think about
consequences of
your despicable behavior

no
you
did not
instead you
gave me a bouquet
of possible explanations

pick
one
of them
you said – the
one that makes most sense
treachery was not one of them

do
not
ask me
to forgive
you for I will not
I choose to ignore and move on

In response toReena’s Exploration Challenge #Week 32

Anything that you do changes the world forever.

Anything.

But the same could be said of an ant.

So don’t get all high and mighty about it.

For Reena